Day 2 - Bozeman Montana

Beautiful Montana Skies

Our trek continued from Eastern Washington, over the tip of Idaho and into Montana. The scenery was completely stunning and awe inspiring. The vast lands running up against low lying mountain ranges. And the huge inky blue sky. I can see why artists and writers retreat to Montana. The surroundings provide inspiration for a lot of artistic output.

This was quite a lengthy day of travel. We left Ellensburg at about 9 AM and rolled into Bozeman at about 9 PM. We made only 2 stops. Lunch at a McDonalds somewhere near Spokane, and later in Missoula Montana.

At the McDonalds, a man approached me as I was filling up my Diet Dr. Pepper. He asked how long we were traveling. My normal big city defenses went sky high as I warily eyed him up and down. I determined he was just being friendly, and not out to do me harm. So, I said we're headed to Bozeman. Then he volunteered that we should go to some park an hour away in Idaho. I said, "Uh, huh."

This signaled to him that I was really interested and he launched into 3 minutes of detailed step by step directions to get to this park. "The kids will love it!", he enthused. I started to wonder if he was employed by the park, and we were his ticket to some 5 person recruitment commission he had been working on. Maybe, he would get bonus points for scoring such exotic participants as an Indian Dad and Chinese Mom in Eastern Washington of all places.

It soon became clear he had no relation with the park, he just wanted my kids to have fun. I thanked him and returned to our table. Not even a minute later, he was back enquiring on where exactly we were headed. I said New York. I thought the back of his head was going to explode as he tried to comprehend the journey we were on. When he rejoined earth, he launched into a description of the road to Montana, and that Bozeman was a college town - so that's cool.

I have to confess, I was doing all I could to stop from bursting out in laughter.
Who was this guy?
Doesn't he work?
Why do we interest him so much?

I was munching on my salad (applaud me for eating vegetarian at McDonalds) and nodding my head at all these bright ideas he had.

After 20 minutes (I'm not exaggerating), he made his goodbyes and he left. A silence descended on our family as we tried to figure out what to make of Mr. Friendly.

From then on, more driving. Today's playlist included more Dick Lucas, the Rolling Stones, U2 and Coldplay.

Another highlight was Sophia insisting the black cows we were passing were hippos. The kids went through waves oscillating between being content to restless fidgeting. After about 2 and a half hours, James would flip out, fed up with the restraints and his forced vantage point of staring straight ahead. A quick turn off to a park or some food would usually placate him.

Our GPS guide betrayed us tonight, leading us to a farmers field, instead of the hotel. I felt as it was a trick for taking her for granted. Oh well, it added an hour of extra driving for us. Again we jumped in the pool after check in, which proves a necessary relaxant after a day trapped in the moving metal box together.

Its midnight now. Everyone is in bed. I am damaging my eyes from the glare from this screen. Time for bed for me too.

Rapid City tomorrow.